Free Republic

Four previously unknown shipwrecks have been discovered some 30 kilometers off the Bay of Irakleio, Crete, in recent underwater exploration conducted by the ephorate of underwater antiquities. The new finds comprise two Roman era shipwrecks, one containing 1st and 2nd-century Cretan amphorae and the other containing 5th-7th century post-Roman era amphorae, and two shipwrecks containing Byzantine amphorae, dated from the 8th-9th century and later. The finds, which were made south and east of the Dia islet, which lies 7 nautical miles north of Irakleio, were documented and taken ashore for further analysis. Three more recent shipwrecks were also discovered, as...

A large fossilized tree 20-million-years-old, preserved intact with its branches and roots, was found on the Greek island of Lesvos.It is considered an extremely rare find, as it is the first time since 1995 when excavations began in the area of Western Lesvos by the Museum of Natural History of the Petrified Forest of Lesvos, where a fossilized tree with its branches has been located.The tree is about 19 meters long, and is said to have been preserved due to the thick layer of volcanic ash that covered it after it fell.“It is a unique find,” Professor Nikos Zouros said,...

Mytilini is normally just a small, sleepy town, but today it’s thronged with people. The town center is a sea of white and blue — the colors of the Greek national flag. More than 9,000 people have followed a summons by the local governor, Konstantinos Moutzouris, and have come from all over Lesbos to Mytilini to protest against the Greek government’s migration policy. It’s the biggest protest in the island’s history. The road around the little harbor is packed with people of all ages. They’re joining forces to make their voices heard and do something about the situation on their...

The following is a first-person report of refugees trying to flee to Greece. It’s 10 p.m. at night and we’re boarding a Greek Coast Guard vessel on the island of Lesvos. The captain assures us we will pick up 150 Muslim refugees in the Aegean Sea tonight. It’s an every night occurrence and part of an underreported illegal immigration and refugee crisis in Europe. They come from places like Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Africa. Many Americans heard about Europe’s huge influx of refugees in 2015 and 2016. But they may not have heard the rest of the story, which Full...

Asylum-seekers attacked the premises of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) on the island of Lesbos on Monday (24 October), protesting against delays in dealing with asylum claims, Greek and EU authorities said. About 70 people, mostly from Pakistan and Bangladesh, threw rocks and burning blankets at EASO containers inside the Moria migrant camp, damaging three of those, a Greek police spokesman for the island said. EASO spokesman Jean-Pierre Schembri said protesters had hurled petrol bombs while interviews with asylum-seekers were taking place. EASO staff had evacuated the camp. …

INTERNAL SECURITY In desperation INHABITANTS OF LESVOS shouting: "What do you want us to die?" The "illegal" is now armed: They smashed windows and grabbed from butcher store cleavers, knives and Hajar! The situation in Mytilini mostly shows beyond any limit with illegal immigrants they even threaten the very life of the people that they themselves describe as helping them. Angry residents reveal that illegal immigrants are now armed with knives, Hajar, axes as yesterday broke into big butcher in the region of Moria and took only the tools of the work of butchers. At the same time as themselves...